LIFE 



PROPHECIES 



OF 



JEREMIAH 



WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, AND 
REVISED BY THE COMiHTTEE OF PUBLICATION. 



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AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
NO. 146 CHESTNUT STREET. 



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Entered iccordin^ to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by Paul Beck, Jr.y 
Treasurer, in trust for the American Sunday-school Union, in the Clerks Office of 
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THE LIFE AND PROPHECIES 



OP 



JEREMIAH. 



CHAPTER I. 

The principal prophet in the time of Jo- 
siah, one of the good kings of Judah, 
was Jeremiah. Hilkiah, his father, was a 
priest, and dwelt in Anathoth, which was one 
of the cities allotted to the priests, when the 
Israelites first entered Canaan.* It was in 
the tribe of Benjamin, and about three miles 
north of Jerusalem. 

According to the Jewish law, Jeremiah 
was himself a priest ; but the Lord had deter- 
mined, even before he was born, that he should 
be a prophet, to bear his messages to the 
people. 

He seems to have begun to prophesy when 

* Josh. xxi. 18. 

3 



4 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

he was quite young; some think when he 
was not more than fourteen years old. It 
was about the time when Josiah commenced 
destroying the idols, that the word of God 
first came to Jeremiah, and told him that he 
was to be a prophet to the nations. When 
he heard this, he replied, "Ah! Lord God ! 
behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child" — 
meaning, probably, that he thought himself 
too young and inexperienced for such an 
important service. 

But the Lord replied to him, ** Say not * I 
am a child,' for thou shalt go to all that I shall 
send thee, and whatsoever I command thee 
thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their 
faces, for I am with thee, saith the Lord." 

Then the Lord touched Jeremiah's mouth, 
to signify that he gave him power to speak 
as a prophet, and said to him, ** Behold I 
have put my words in thy mouth. See I 
have this day set thee over the nations and 
over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull 
down, and to destroy, and to throw down, 
to build, and to plant." That is, he should 
declare the judgments which the Lord was 
about to biing upon the nations. 



OF JEREMIAH. 9 

He was then directed to rise up boldly, 
and speak to the people all that God should 
command. He was plainly warned of the 
opposition which should arise against him, yet 
God assured him it should not prevail. " I 
am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." 

It should be remembered that the Jews, at 
this time, practised idolatry. Manasseh, the 
grandfather of Josiah, led the people into the 
most abominable idolatry. He encouraged the 
worship of the images that the heathen nations 
of Canaan had followed as their gods, and 
built altars to them, and to the sun, moon, and 
stars, in the very temple of the Lord at Jeru- 
salem. In his long reign, this wicked king 
made the Jews worse than the nations who 
had been driven from the land before them.* 
And though, when the Lord gave him into 
the hands of the king of Assyria, who took 
him in chains to Babylon, when he repented 
of his wickedness, yet the influence of his evil 
example remained. The people continued 
to worship idols, and his son Amon, Josiah's 
father, who reigned after him, sacrificed to 
the idols, and trespassed more and more.t 

* 2 Chron. xxiii. 9. f 2 Kings xxi. 2 Chron. xxxiii, 
1* 



6 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

And though Josiah was a pious king, he 
was but a child when he came to the throne, 
and it was several years before he could have 
any influence in putting a stop to the sin of 
his people. He attempted it when he was 
twenty years old, but such a youth could do 
little to reform practices that the people had 
been accustomed to for nearly eighty years* 
It proved as might have been expected. The 
people were afraid to worship their idols 
openly, lest they should be punished. The 
same fear led them to observe the Jewish 
laws and ceremonies. But their hearts were 
not changed. They still preferred the sinful 
worship of their images to the pure service 
of God, and the Lord declared that their turn- 
ing to him was only a pretence. 

Such was the state of the Jews when Jere- 
miah received the command of the Lord to 
"utter his judgments against them, touching 
all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, 
and have burned incense unto other gods, 
and worshipped the works of their own 
hands," 



OF JEREMIAH. 



CHAPTER II. 

The first duty which Jeremiah had to per* 
form as a prophet to the Jews, was to carry 
to them a most tender message from the Lord 
about their ungrateful conduct towards him, 
We cannot read it without wondering at the 
patience and long-suffering of God, who, 
after almost nine hundred years of rebellion 
on their part) still condescended to address 
them as one would speak to an old and be- 
loved friend, " Go," said the Lord to his 
prophet, '* and tell Jerusalem (meaning the 
Jewish people generally) that I remember 
her, as she was in her youth ; when I first 
led the nation out of Egypt, and chose them as 
my beloved people ; when they felt their 
need of me to deliver them from bondage, and 
followed me as their guide through the wil- 
derness, as a young bride depends on her 
husband. Ah ! then they had the kindness 
of youth, and the tenderness of early love. 
But when I had brought them safely through 



8 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

all the dangers of the way, and gave them 
this fruitful and happy land to dwell in, they 
forgot their guide and friend. They defiled 
the land with sin. Even the priests inquired 
not for the Lord, and the pastors transgressed 
against him, and the prophets turned to idol- 
atry. And had they done this because they 
found iniquity in the Lord ? Had he been 
guilty of any evil that deserved this treat- 
ment ?"* 

Such conduct was most ungrateful. The 
Jews had forsaken the only God — their Cre- 
ator, King and Father, and had bowed down 
to images which they had made, and called 
the stars their gods. " My people," said 
the Lord, " have changed their glory for that 
which doth not profit." Justly did he ex- 
claim, " Be astonished, Oye heavens, at this, 
and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, 
saith the Lord : for my people have commit- 
ted two evils; they have forsaken me, the 
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out 
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no 
water." That is, in leaving the only true 

* Paraphrase of Jer. ii. 1— 8» 



OF JEREMIAH. 9 

God for dumb idols, they had acted like men 
who should go away from an overflowing 
spring, and dig wells which after all would 
produce no water. 

The Lord then referred to the calamities 
the Jews had suffered, and would yet suffer, 
from their enemies, in having their lands 
made waste and their cities burned. He re- 
minded diem that they had brought these suf- 
ferings upon themselves by their own wick- 
edness in leaving their God for idols. *' Hast 
thou not procured this unto thyself, in that 
thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when 
he led thee by the way ? Thine own wick- 
edness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings 
shall reprove thee ; know therefore and see 
that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou 
hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my 
fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of 
hosts," 

In this manner did the Lord, through the 
preaching of Jeremiah, rebuke the people for 
their ingratitude, and show them that their 
sins were without excuse. He had led them 
like a father; he had given them wise and 
good laws; he had been long-suffering; for 



10 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

though he had sometimes corrected them, it 
was in mercy, and he still forsook them not. 
But notwithstanding this, they persisted in 
following the practices of the heathen nations. 
They said, " I have loved strangers, and 
after them will I go." They worshipped 
their idols, " saying to a stick, thou art my 
father ; and to a stone, thou hast brought me 
forth," and turned their backs upon God. 

And does this language apply only to the 
rebellious Jews ? Did the Lord do more for 
them than he has done for those who live in 
Christian countries in this day ? 

Think of his mercies to you ; how he pre- 
served you in infancy and childhood, gave 
you friends, and has kept you to this day. 
And how have you returned this kindness ? 
Remember how many sins you have commit- 
ted against him ; how often you have broken 
his laws ; how little you have thought of 
him ; how seldom you have thanked him 
sincerely for his goodness, or loved him for 
his holiness. And he has been patient with 
you, as he was with the Jews. He has not 
destroyed you, as he might have done. He 
has not been provoked by your forgetfulness 



OF JEREMIAH. 11 

of him to forget you and leave you to perish. 
How many instructions he has sent to you ! 
He has put the Bible in your hands to lead 
you to think of him and to serve him. You 
have the gospel, which the Jews had not. 
You know what Jesus has done, and what he 
has suffered for sinners. This the Jews in 
Jeremiah's time did not know or imagine. 
You have had teachers to instruct, and per- 
suade, and warn you. You have had schools, 
and meetings, and books, all for the same 
purpose of leading you to God. 

Perhaps, too, you have had sickness and 
pain, to remind you that God alone can keep 
us in health, or restore us from sickness. 
Have you not lost a father or mother, a bro- 
ther or a sister, or some other dear relation, by 
death ? God has thus taught you to think of 
him who holds the lives of all in his power, 
and who can remove, at his pleasure, all that 
we love most. 

Or if you have sometimes felt it to be your 
duty to obey and love God, and have deter- 
mined to serve him, have you not soon for- 
gotten your resolution, and given up the at- 
tempt? When you were sick, did you not 



12 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

pray to him and ask for pardon, and make up 
your mind to be a disciple of the Redeemer ? 
You were then like the Jews who followed 
God in the wilderness, because they had no 
guide or friend but him: but when they 
were safely through the desert, they forgot 
their Saviour, and *' became vain." 

When the Jews forsook the Lord they fol- 
lowed idols. You may think you have not 
done this. But any thing is an idol which 
we love instead of God. Are you not loving 
the pleasures of this world more than God ? 
Of which do you think oftener — of God, or 
of some earthly object ? Which do you de- 
sire most strongly — the happiness of heaven, 
or the mirth of this life? Which gives you 
most anxiety from day to day — your soul, or 
your body ? The things of time, or the things 
of eternity? 



OF JEREMIAH. 13 



CHAPTER III. 

A YEAR before Jeremiah began to prophesy- 
to the Jews, their king, Josiah, commenced 
destroying the images, groves, and altars that 
were used in idolatrous worship. He caused 
the idols that were made of brass to be broken 
and ground into powder, and the places in 
which they were kept were taken down and 
demolished. He also caused the temple at 
Jerusalem to be repaired. About this same 
time, the high priest found a copy of the law — 
perhaps the very one that Moses commanded 
the Levites to place in the ark of the cove- 
nant.* 

The book was read to the king ; and as he 
heard the curses which the Lord pronounced 
in it against the nation if they should forsake 
him, he was filled with distress. He sent to 
a prophetess in Jerusalem, and the Lord told 
him by her that the curses which had been 
read from the book of the law would certainly 

* Deut xxxi. 26. 
2 



14 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

come upon the people, for they had turned to 
idolatry. But to Josiah himself the Lord 
sent this message. '* Because thy heart 
was tender, and thou didst humble thyself 
before God, when thou heardest his words 
against this place, and against the inhabitants 
thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and 
didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me ; 
I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. 
Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and 
thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, 
neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I 
will bring upon this place, and upon the in- 
habitants of the same." 

Thus we see that the repentance and hu- 
mility of Josiah were the means of his escap- 
ing the dreadful punishment that would have 
fallen upon him and his country, if he had 
made light of the warning of the Scriptures. 
But these judgments were to visit the guilty 
people after his death, if they should still re- 
fuse to humble themselves, and abandon their 
iniquities. Then would the threatenings of 
the book of the law be fulfilled, and when 
other nations should ask, "Wherefore hath the 
Lord done thus unto this land ? what mean- 



OF JEREMIAH. 16 

eth the heat of this great anger ? Then men 
shall say, Because they have forsaken the 
covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, 
which he made with them when he brought 
them forth out of the land of Egypt. For 
they went and served other gods, and wor- 
shipped them, gods whom they knew not, 
and whom he had not given unto them. 
And the anger of the Lord was kindled 
against this land, to bring upon it all the 
curses that are written in this book : and the 
Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, 
and in wrath, and in great indignation, and 
cast them into another land, as it is this day." 
When Josiah had heard what the prophet- 
ess had said, he assembled the people in the 
courts of the temple. They came in great 
numbers, both old and young, to hear what 
the king had to say to them. When they 
were all collected, Josiah read to them out of 
the book which had been found. He proba- 
bly read particularly the twenty-eighth chap- 
ter of Deuteronomy, in which are written the 
blessings that were promised to the nation in 
case of obedience, and the curses threatened 
if they should turn to idols. 



16 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

When Josiah had finished reading, he 
made a solemn covenant or promise that he 
would keep the commandments of God with 
all his heart and soul. This he had been 
doing from the age of sixteen, so far as he 
knew them. But he wished the nation to 
join with him in the covenant. U was not 
enough that he had destroyed their idols ; 
they must keep the commandments of God as 
given to their fathers, and observe all that was 
required by the law. Josiah therefore caused 
all the people who were present to agree to 
the covenant. The passover was also cele- 
brated, and the priests were appointed to 
their different duties as of old. The worship 
of the temple was revived, and the nation 
seemed to be once more returning to their 
injured and insulted God. 

But this was only a fair appearance. It 
was produced by the authority of the king, 
and not by any real change in the hearts of 
the people. They may have been alarmed 
by the threatenings of the book that was 
found, and thought that by observijjg the 
ceremonies it required, they could escape the 
anger of God. But though it is said that 



OF JEREMIAH. 17 

during all the days of Josiah, " they departed 
not from following the Lord, the God of their 
fathers,"* their repentance was not sin- 
cere, and they did not in their hearts abandon 
their sins. The Lord said to Jeremiah, 
"Judah hath not turned unto me with her 
whole heart, but feignedly." It was a pre- 
tence ; like the religion of persons who pro- 
fess to repent when they are alarmed at the 
prospect of death, or of some calamity, but when 
the danger is over they lose their anxiety, 
and give up thoughts of religion, God called 
these feigning Jews treacherous^ and worse 
than the other ten tribes, because they at- 
tempted to deceive him by professions of re- 
pentance. And God still looks upon hypo- 
crites as his worst enemies, and has pro- 
nounced the most terrible sentence against 
th€m. 

But even now the Lord was not unwilling 
to forgive them if they would come back to 
him. He was disposed, also, to pardon Is- 
rael — the ten tribes who had already gone 
into captivity — if they would sincerely re- 

* % Chron. xxxiv. 33. 
2* 



18 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

pent. Jeremiah was directed to " proclsirn 
these words towards the north," where they 
were then in bondage — '' Return, than back- 
sliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not 
cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am 
merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep 
anger for ever." '' Only acknowledge thine 
iniquity that thou hast transgressed against 
the Lord thy God." Again he pleads with 
them^ — '* Turn, O backsliding children, saith 
the Lord." '' If thou wilt retura^ Israel, 
saith the Lord, return unto me, and if thou 
wilt put away thine abominations out of my 
sight, then shalt thou not remove." 

But the Lord was not satisfied with their 
outward service, and the mere change of their 
worship, whilst in their hearts they preferred 
the idols of the heathen. He therefore di- 
rected Jeremiah to call upon the men of Ju- 
dah and Jerusalem to reform themselves 
thoroughly, and thus to prepare for the bless- 
ing of the Lord. He signified what they had 
to do in a most expressive manner. " Break 
up your fallow ground, and sow not among 
thorns." Fallow ground is that which is not 
ploughed or cultivated^ but is full of reeds 



OF JEREMIAH. 19 

and thorns, and other plants that spring up 
naturally, without sowing or planting ; and as 
the farmer must prepare his ground before he 
can sow seed and expect a crop, so the Lord 
called upon the Jews to have their hearts 
prepared to be reconciled to him, by becom- 
ing sincerely humble and penitent, and aban- 
doning their sins. Their dependence on the 
temple worship, and their ceremonies, whilst 
their hearts were not changed, was like 
throwing seed among thorns on the fallow 
ground, which would either never spring up, 
or be destroyed by the thorns as soon as it 
appeared. But if they would truly renounce 
idolatry, and return to God with all their 
heart and soul, he would acknowledge them 
again as his children, and give them his 
blessing. The prophet Hosea, before the 
time of Jeremiah, had said the same thing to 
them — '' Break up your fallow ground, for it 
is time to seek the Lord, till he come and 
rain righteousness upon you."* 

They well knew how this was to be done. 
They had been always taught that God would 

* Hos. X. 12. 



20 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

accept nothing but repentance and the forsak- 
ing of sin, as proofs of their sincerity in seek- 
ing him. And now they were again most 
earnestly called to this duty by the prophet — 
** O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wick- 
edness, that thou mayest be saved !" 

How many there are even in these days who, 
if there were no threatenings in the Scrip- 
tures, would continue in their old habits of 
sin! They have no real love for God or his 
law, but serve him outwardly only, through 
fear of punishment. We see, from the decla- 
rations of God to the Jews, that this is of no 
avail. There is no repentance in it ; no sor- 
row that they have offended God ; no desire 
to have their affections changed, so that sin 
shall be hated, as well as forsaken, and God 
loved, as well as feared. They do not care 
to " wash their heart from wickedness," 
But God knows that the heart is the very 
fountain of sin ; that men disobey him because 
their hearts are wicked, and that until these 
are changed he cannot accept them. It is 
not the profession only that he wants. 

What then are sinners to do if they are in 
earnest in wishing to be reconciled to God ? 



OF JEREMIAH. 21 

They are to cease sinning, both in practice 
and in heart. They are, as another prophet 
said, to *' put away the evil of their doings ; 
cease to do evil ; learn to do well."* This 
must be done from right motives, and sin- 
cerely. They cannot change their own 
hearts, but they know that God is able to do 
it, and he commands them to break up their 
fallow ground and seek his mercy, that he 
may send his Spirit upon them. So that al- 
though they cannot sanctify themselves, yet 
if God is willing to do it for them, they 
are just as guilty, if they do not apply 
to him, as if they had all the power ; for 
while God tells the sinner, " Wash thy 
heart from wickedness that thou mayest be 
saved," he at the same time assures him that 
he has opened a fountain for sin and unclean- 
ness in Christ Jesus,t and says, " Come now 
and let us reason together ; though your sins 
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; 
though they be red like crimson, they shall 
be as wool. "J 

* Isa. i. 16, 17. t Zech. xiii. 1. i Isa. i. 18. 



22 LIF£ AND PROPHECIES 



CHAPTER IV. 

At the same time that Jeremiah delivered 
God's messages to the Jews, he declared to 
them the terrible judgments that were coming 
upon them in consequence of their refusing 
to repent. He predicted that their enemies 
should come upon them and spoil their whole 
land, so that the fruitful place would become 
a wilderness, the cities forsaken, and the in- 
habitants would fly to the .woods and rocks to 
hide themselves, A distant and powerful 
nation, of a different language, should eat 
their harvests, and flocks, and fruit ; and the 
Jews themselves should become the servants 
of strangers in another land. These enemies 
should come on horses, with bows and spears. 
They were described as cruel, and having no 
mercy, and bringing terror and destruction on 
every side. The people intended were the 
Chaldeans. Their country lay on the east 
of Judea, and its capital was the great city of 
Babylon. Probably about the same time in 



OF JEREMIAH. 23 

which Jeremiah utt6red these predictions, the 
prophet Habakkuk spoke of them by name, 
and described them thus—" For, lo, I raise 
up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty na- 
tion, which shall march through the breadth 
of the land, to possess the dwelling-places 
that are not theirs. They are terrible and 
dreadful : their judgment and their dignity 
shall proceed of themselves. Their horses 
also are swifter than the leopards, and are 
more fierce than the evening wolves : and 
their horsemen shall spread themselves, and 
their horsemen shall come from far; they 
shall fly as the eagle that haateth to eat. 
They shall come all for violence : their faces 
shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall 
gather the captivity as the sand."* 

This nation should have no pity on the 
Jews, but should slay those they did not take 
into captivity, till there should be no room to 
bury them. The cities of Judah, and even 
the holy city Jerusalem, should be silent and 
deserted. 

In connexion witji all these dreadful pre- 

* Ha. i. 6—9. 



24 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

dictions, Jeremiah constantly reminded the 
Jews of two things. 

One was,^ that they had brought these ca- 
lamities upon themselves, by forsaking God 
and refusing to return. They persisted in 
idolatry, and the whole nation joined together 
in this sin, so that the Lord said, that in pre- 
paring the cakes which the infatuated people 
offered to the moon, which they worshipped 
as the queen of heaven, the women kneaded 
the dough, the fathers kindled the fire, for 
which the children gathered the wood.* 

The other was, that before the judgments 
which he predicted should come, there was 
time for repentance. '* Thus saith the Lord, 
Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the 
old paths, where is the good way, and walk 
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. 
Amend your ways, and your doings, and I 
will cause you to dwell in this place."t 
There was still mercy with God for the peni- 
tent, and Jeremiah proclaimed this to the 
people. The Lord compared them to a sick 
person, for whose disease there was a medi- 

* Jer. vii. 18. f Jer. iv. 16 ; vii. 3. 



OF JEREMIAH. 25 

cine and a physician that could cure it, if they 
were only employed — '* Is there no balm in 
Gilead ? is there no physician there I Why 
then is not the health of the daughter of my 
people recovered ?" And the prophet, seeing 
their awful danger, bursts out with the excla- 
mation — " O that my head were waters, and 
mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might 
weep day and night for the slain of the daugh- 
ter of my people !"* 

The Lord had told Jeremiah, when he first 
called him to prophesy, that he would be op- 
posed and persecuted. This was now fulfil- 
led ; for the people of Anathoth, his own city, 
became enraged against him, because he faith- 
fully proclaimed the words of the Lord. In- 
stead of following his advice, and reforming 
their lives, they were provoked by his re- 
proofs, and sought to put him to death. 
They saw that this was the only method of 
silencing his warning voice. They said, 
*' Let us destroy the tree with the fruit there- 
of — that is, if we take his life we shall stop 
his preaching, ** and let us cut him ofl' from 

* Jer. viii. 22 ; ix. 1. 
3 



26 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

the land of the living, that his name may be 
no more remembered." 

Thus it has been in all ages, that the wicked 
hate reproof, and hate those who tell them of 
their sin and danger, though they kindly and 
earnestly entreat them, for their own sakes, 
to avoid it. How often the young feel angry 
with those who give them faithful advice! 
How apt they are to abuse or ridicule them ! 
Yet such advisers are their best friends, and in 
putting them away they run the risk of be- 
coming for ever hardened in their sins. 

Let such take warning by the fate of the 
men of Anathoth, who threatened to kill 
Jeremiah for his fidelity. ** Thus saith the 
Lord of hosts. Behold I will punish them ; 
the young men shall die by the sword ; their 
sons and their daughters shall die by famine ; 
and there shall be no remnant of them : for I 
will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, 
even to the year of their visitation."* 

• Jer.xi.22, 23. 



OF JEREMIAH. 27 



CHAPTER V. 

Whilst Jeremiah was employed in his 
duties as a prophet, the king of Egypt made 
war upon the king of Assyria. He intended 
to pass through Judea to the city Carchemish, 
on the Euphrates, and had ascended as far as 
Megiddo, in the northern parts of the domi- 
nions of Josiah. Josiah went out against 
him, and in the battle was shot with an ar- 
row, so that he was obliged to be carried to 
Jerusalem, where he died in the thirty-first 
year of his reign, and the thirty-ninth of his 
age. 

This was a great calamity to the Jews, and 
seemed to take away the last hope of their 
reformation. They were attached to him, 
and perhaps this was the principal motive 
that induced them to respect his laws for the 
observance of religion. But as soon as he 
was removed by death, they were ready to 
give up even the form of the worship of God, 
which he had required of them. 



28 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

Jeremiah must have felt the loss of one of 
the few men in Judah who united with him 
in serving the Lord. It is said he " la- 
mented for Josiah ;" which probably means 
that he wrote an elegy, or poem, on his death, 
which was accustomed to be sung by the peo- 
ple, long afterwards, in honour of their good 
king. 

Josiah was succeeded by Jehoahaz, his 
fourth son, who was then twenty-three years 
of age. Though he had so good a father, 
and such an excellent example of a king, he 
was of a very different character. He was 
soon cut off, for in three months after he be- 
gan to reign, Nechoh, the Egyptian king who 
had conquered Josiah, took him prisoner and 
carried him to Egypt. Jehoahaz is also called 
Shallum, and Jeremiah, referring to the death 
of Josiah and the defeat of his son, prophe- 
sied thus : — ** Weep ye not for the dead, nei- 
ther bemoan him : but weep sore for him that 
goeth away ; for he shall return no more, nor 
see his native country. For thus saith the 
Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah king 
of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his 
father, which went forth out of this place ; he 



OF JEREMIAH. 29 

shall not return thither any more : but he 
shall die in the place whither they have led 
him captive, and shall see this land no more." 
Nechoh made Eliakim, Josiah's second 
son, king of Judah, and changed his name to 
Jehoiakim. He also was an evil king; for 
the best of fathers may have their instructions 
and example made of no effect by the obsti- 
nate wickedness of their sons. His kingdom 
had now to pay tribute to the king of Egypt, 
and Jehoiakim laid taxes on the people to 
raise it. 

Though Josiah was dead, and the country 
was governed by a king who was as bad as 
his people, Jeremiah was not afraid to utter 
his prophecies, as the Lord directed him. 
He continued to predict the captivity of the 
nation, and the sufferings they should endure, 
proclaiming boldly that their sins were the 
cause of the anger of God, and that nothing 
could turn it away but their repentance. He 
still suffered persecution, but again the Lord 
promised to protect him ; and he could say 
with David, - The Lord is on my side ; I 
will not fear : what can man do unto me ? It 
is better to trust in the Lord, than to put con- 
3* 



30 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

fidence in man. It is better to trust in the 
Lord than to put confidence in princes."* 

At one time he was commanded by the 
Lord to stand in the gates of Jerusalem, which 
were the most public places of the city, and 
to admonish the king and all the people of 
their duty to keep the Sabbath holy. He was 
to forbid them lo carry burdens on that day, 
or to bring any thing into the city, or to do 
any work ; but they should hallow the Sab- 
bath as had been commanded in the days of 
Moses. The Lord promised the people that 
if they would obey this commandment, the 
glory of the nation should be restored ; their 
kings should sit on the throne of David, and 
Jerusalem and its temple should remain for 
ever. But if they would not keep holy the 
Sabbath, the Lord declared that the city should 
be destroyed. This is one of the many pas- 
sages in the Scriptures in which the Lord has 
shown that he will not pass by the sin of Sab- 
bath-breaking. 

On another occasion Jeremiah was sent to 
the valley of Hinnom, or Tophet, on the 

* Psalm cxviii. 6 — 8. 



OF JEREMIAH. - 31 

southern side of Jerusalem, and was told to 
take with him some of the oldest of the citi- 
zens and of the priests. This valley was the 
place where the people, before the reign of 
Josiah, celebrated some of their idolatrous 
rites, and offered their children as sacrifices 
to the idol Moloch. When they came to the 
vallejs Jeremiah proclaimed the declaration 
of the Lord, that because of the idolatry of 
the people, and the sacrificingof their children, 
the time should come when that place should 
be a valley of slaughter to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem ; for they should be slain by their 
enemies, and their dead bodies be heaped to- 
gether there, till there was no more room to 
hold them. The prophet then broke an 
earthen bottle before those who accompanied 
him, to signify that in like manner the nation 
should be destroyed, and not be repaired. 

Jeremiah went from Tophet into the tem- 
ple, and there addressed this message to the 
people — *' Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the 
God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring upon this 
city, and upon all her towns, all the evil that 
I have pronounced against it, because they 



82 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

have hardened their necks, that they might 
not hear my words." 

A man by the name of Pashur, one of the 
priests of the temple, and a chief officer, hear- 
ing what Jeremiah had said, became enraged 
against him. He was probably one of those 
priests of whom Jeremiah had said that they 
dealt falsely, ** for they have healed the hurt 
of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, 
Peace, peace, when there is no peace." He 
perhaps pretended that Jeremiah had offended 
against the temple by uttering such things; 
and therefore had him beaten, and set in the 
stocks. This was some disgraceful exposure, 
or place of confinement, near one of the pub- 
lic gates. On the next day Pashur released 
him, and then Jeremiah repeated to him the 
very prophecy for which he had been pu- 
nished, and told Pashur that he should become 
a terror to himself and to his friends ; that the 
nation should be carried to Babylon, that he 
should be among the captives and should die 
there, he and all the friends to whom he had 
" prophesied lies," 



OF JEREMIAH. 33 



CHAPTER VI. 

Jeremiah was sometimes greatly distressed 
by the persecutions of his enemies. They 
ridiculed him daily, and mocked his preach- 
ing. They watched him, in hope he would 
say or do something wrong, for which they 
might bring him into disgrace. He was 
sometimes tempted to give up prophesying, 
but he could not ; for when the word of God 
came to him to speak, he said it was like a 
fire in his bones, and he could not help pro- 
claiming it. He looked to the Lord for as- 
sistance, and was confident that his persecu- 
tors could not prevail. With the strength of 
this faith, he feared not to predict that king 
Jehoiakim, for his injustice and wickedness, 
and departing from the example of his father, 
should die a disgraceful death, and his body 
be cast out of Jerusalem like the carcass of a 
beast ; and his son Jeconiah (or Jehoiachin) 
be taken captive by the king of Babylon. 

Though Jeremiah had been so shamefully 



34 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

treated by Pashur for preaching in the temple 
the words of God, he was not afraid to obey 
the Lord when he sent him again for the same 
purpose. One day, after calling on the peo- 
ple to repent, he declared to them that if they 
did not turn from their evil ways, the Lord 
would forsake the temple, and make Jerusa- 
lem a curse to all the nations of the earth. 

This greatly provoked the false priests and 
prophets of the temple, and the Jews who 
were present. And when Jeremiah had 
finished his discourse, ihey seized him, and 
declared he should be put to death. When 
the rulers of the city heard what had taken 
place, they came from the palace to the tem- 
ple to inquire about the tumult. The priests 
and prophets brought Jeremiah before them, 
and said he deserved to die for having pro- 
phesied against Jerusalem. 

Jeremiah was not terrified by these accusa- 
tions, nor by the threats of the mob who 
wished to put him to death. He remembered 
the promise of God, in whose name he had 
spoken, and was not afraid of any thing that 
men could do. He stood up before them all, 
and spoke as follows—" The Lord sent me 



OF JEREMIAH. 35 

to prophesy against this house and against 
this city, all the words that ye have heard. 
Therefore now amend your ways and your 
doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your 
God; and the Lord will repent him of the 
evil that he hath pronounced against you. 
As for me, behold, I am in your hand : do 
with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. 
But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to 
death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood 
upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon 
the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the 
Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these 
words in your ear." [Jer. xxvi. 12 — 15.] 

The princes knew that it was a dangerous 
thing to put a prophet of the Lord to death, 
and after learning what Jeremiah had said, 
they declared he was not guilty of any crime, 
but had spoken in the name of the Lord. 
The people also now took the prophet's part, 
and agreed with the rulers. 

One of the elders of the people then rose 
in the assembly, and to show how wrong it 
would be to inflict any punishment on Jere- 
miah, mentioned the case of the prophet Mi- 
cah, who lived in the reign of Hezekiah, and 



36 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

had used as strong language against Jerusalem 
as Jeremiah had done. For he had said, 
*' Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jeru- 
salem shall become heaps, and the mountain 
of the house as the high places of the forest.''* 
Yet Hezekiah and the people in his day did 
not put Micah to death, but on the contrary 
they attended to his warnings, and repented 
of their sins, and the Lord withheld the judg- 
ment he had threatened. The elder further 
said, that if instead of imitating this example, 
they should put Jeremiah to death, they might 
" procure great evil against their souls." 

But there was a prophet named Urijah, not 
long before this, who had prophesied as Jere- 
miah had done against Judah and Jerusalem. 
And king Jehoiakim (who was still reigning) 
and his chief officers determined to put him 
to death ; but instead of boldly meeting his 
enemies as Jeremiah had done, Urijah fled 
into Egypt. However, the king sent men in 
pursuit of him, who brought him back, and 
he was executed. 

It was therefore likely that the king would 



* Mic* iii. 12. Jer. xxvi. 18. 



OF JEREMIAH. 37 

be in favour of destroying Jeremiah ; and the 
people, upon remembering the case of Urijah, 
seem to have returned to their first intention 
of killing him. But there was a man in the 
assembly named Ahikam, who had been an 
officer of Josiah, and was one of those whom 
he sent to inquire about the book of the law 
that was found in the temple. He took the 
part of Jeremiah, and by his influence pre- 
vented th« people from doing the prophet any 
injury. Thus the declaration and promise 
of the Lord were again fulfilled — " For, be- 
hold, I have made thee this day a defenced 
city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls 
against the whole land, against the kings of 
Judah, against the princes thereof, against the 
priests thereof, and against the people of the 
land. And they shall fight against thee ; but 
they shall not prevail against thee ; for I am 
with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." 

The Lord often condescended to call the 
Jews his children, and reproved them as a 
father for their unnatural conduct. As he 
sdd by Malachi — " A son honoureth his fa- 
ther, and a servant his master ; if then I be a 
a father, where is my honour ? andr if I be a 
4 



38 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

master, where is my fear ? saith the Lord of 
hosts."* 

For the purpose of showing the Jews an 
e:5cample of obedience to an earthly father, 
and thus to make them ashamed of their 
own disobedience to their heavenly Pa- 
rent, the Lord directed Jeremiah to go to the 
Rechabites, a tribe of people then living in 
Jerusalem, but who were not Jews. Jehon- 
adab, one of their ancestors, had commanded 
his family never to drink wine, nor to build 
houses, or sow seed, or plant vineyards ; but 
to live in tents. Jeremiah was directed by 
the Lord to take this tribe to the temple, and 
offer them wine to drink. He did so, and 
set abundance of wine before them in pots 
and cups, and invited them to partake. But 
they all refused, and as a reason, told what 
their forefather Jehonadab had commanded, 
and said that their tribe had not disobeyed 
this rule since he had made it, which was 
then three hundred years, but had done ac- 
cording to all that he had commanded them. 

When Jeremiah had thus proved the re- 
spect of the Rechabites for the request of an 

*Mal. i. 6. 



OF JEREMIAH. 39 

earthly ancestor, the Lord directed him to 
tell the fact to the Jews — that from the days 
of Jehonadab to that time his descendants had 
not broken his regulations, yet the Jews had 
forsaken the laws of their God, and refused 
to listen to his prophets. For this their 
fidelity, said the Lord, the family of Jehona- 
dab should be rewarded by being preserved 
from extinction, but the rebellious Jews should 
be punished with all the evils that had been 
threatened; "because I have spoken unto 
them, but they have not heard ; and I have call- 
ed unto them, but they have not answered." 



40 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 



CHAPTER VII. 

Jeremiah had now been prophesying for 
twenty-three years. He had persevered in 
warning the people both in public and pri- 
vate, as ministers of the gospel now continue 
to exhort sinners; whether they will hear or 
despise the message. He had told them the 
particular visitations they should suffer if they 
did not repent — such as famine, the destruc- 
tion of the city and temple, the desolation of 
the whole land by their enemies, and their 
captivity in a foreign country. 

In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoia- 
kim, he named the king who was to subdue 
them, the length of time their captivity should 
last, and the consequences that should follow 
to the land. They were to be invaded by 
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who 
should conquer them and all the nations 
around ; their whole country should become 
desolate : there should be no voice of mirth 
and gladness in all the land; the noise of 



OF JEREMIAH. 41 

business should cease, and the inhabitants be 
taken away, and serve the king of Babylon 
for seventy years. The justice of the Lord, 
which had so long been restrained, should 
visit the neighbouring nations o( idolaters, 
and in the course of time Babylon itself, the 
seat of wickedness, should also be destroyed. 
" A noise shall come even to the ends of the 
earth ; for the Lord hath a controversy with 
the nations, he will plead with all flesh ; he 
will ^ve them that are wicked to the sword, 
saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. 
Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to na- 
tion, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up 
from the coasts of the earth." Jer. xxv. 31, 32. 
How dreadful was the destruction thus pre- 
pared for the guilty nations ! But who can 
say it was not just ? Who does not see that 
God had been patient, forbearing, and long- 
suffering, beyond all that the Jews had the 
least reason to ask or expect ? How terrible 
the desolation of the beautiful country which 
had been selected from the whole earth for 
the people of God ! Their holy city, and 
its splendid temple too — its altars, its magnifi- 
cent buildings, must be demolished, and it6 

4* 



42 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

sacred vessels destroyed, or carried to the house 
of an idol. And the people must be put to 
death in the houses and the streets ; and those 
that escape death must be carried to a distant 
country, and become subject to a foreign 
king ! 

This forcibly shows us the evil of sin, that 
draws down such dreadful punishment. It 
proves that the Lord is a God of justice as 
well as mercy ; that he will not let the im- 
penitent go unpunished, and that though his 
judgments may he delayed, they will at last 
fall upon the guilty. 

And this is a solemn warning to the sinners 
who are now abusing his grace ; to those who 
are yet in their sins, and will not look ta 
Christ for pardon ; who despise the messages 
of his mercy, and are not moved by all that 
they are told of a judgment to- come, and of a 
destruction that will be for ever and ever ! 

The judgments of the guilty land were now 
approaching, and soon it would be seen that 
Jeremiah was a true prophet. The last 
warning was to be given^ and one more op- 
portunity afforded to the nation to repent. 
*' It may be," said the gracious God, " it may 



OF JEREMIAH. 43 

be that the house of Judah will hear all the 
evil which I purpose to do unto them ; that 
they may return every man from his evil 
way; that I may forgive their iniquity and 
their sin." 

Jeremiah was now commanded to have 
written in a book, or roll of parchment, all 
the messages which he had given to the Jews 
in the twenty-three years of his labours as a 
prophet. When this book was prepared, he 
was to cause it to be read to the people. Ac- 
cordingly, he was enabled to remember all 
that he had prophesied ; and as he repeated it, 
his words were written down by a friend of 
his, named Baruch. When the writing was 
finished, he sent Baruch to read it to the peo- 
ple in the temple, on one of the days of their 
fasting. Even Jeremiah was not yet wholly 
disheartened, and hoped that when they heard 
the long and mournful list of calamities with 
which they were threatened, they would be 
moved. *' It may be," he remarked to Ba- 
ruch, *'it may be they will present their sup- 
plication before the Lord, and will return 
every one from his evil way." 

Baruch did as the prophet had directed, and 



44 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

read the book, probably twice over at differ* 
ent times, in the hearing of all the people. 
He seems not to have had the faith of Jere- 
miah, and to have been afraid of the conse- 
quences to himself, of proclaiming in such a 
public manner, declarations that were likely 
to provoke the people against him. But the 
Lord bade Jeremiah to admonish him not to 
be seeking great things for himself : that is, 
not to fear to do his duty lest he should suffer 
loss by it ; and he further assured him that 
his life should be preserved wheresoever he 
might be taken after the conquest of Jeru- 
salem. 

When Baruch had read the prophecies, a 
son of one of the king's counsellors or princes 
went to the palace, where his father and the 
principal men were assembled, and told them 
what had been read in the temple. They 
immediately sent a messenger to Baruch, to 
order him to come to them, and bring with 
him the book he had read to the people. He 
came, and at their request read it over to 
them. As they heard such strong expres- 
sions against the character of the nation, and 
such judgments pronounced against the whole 



OF JEREMIAH. 45 

country, they became alarmed, and said they 
would be obliged to report it all to the king. 
They then asked Baruch how he had taken 
it ? He answered them, that he had taken 
it down just as it was spoken to him by Jere- 
miah. They advised him that he and Jere- 
miah should conceal themselves, to avoid the 
displeasure of the king when he should be 
informed of the contents of the book. 

The counsellors put the book away in one 
of the rooms of the palace, and went to relate 
to the king the substance of the prophecies. 
Jehoiakim was not satisfied with hearing their 
account, but ordered the book itself to be 
brought. He appointed one of his attendants 
to read it before him and his counsellors. 
The man commenced, but had not read much, 
when the king became enraged at the pro- 
phecy, and taking the book from the reader's 
hand, cut it with a penknife, and threw it 
into the fire, near which he was sitting. 

Three of the counsellors begged the king 
not to destroy the volume ; but he would not 
regard their advice, and it was consumed. He 
then gave orders that both Jeremiah and Ba- 
ruch should be seized : but they could not be 



46 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

found. The Lord told Jeremiah to have 
another book prepared like the one that the 
king destroyed, and it was written as before by 
Baruch, with some other predictions added to 
it. The Lord again declared of Jehoiakim, 
that when he died his body should be left un- 
buried, that none of his sons should keep 
possession of his throne, and that he and his 
family should be punished for their iniquity. 

The conduct of Jehoiakim in this case was 
as foolish as it was wicked. For the cutting 
and burning of the prophecy would not hinder 
the accomplishment of what it foretold, and 
it only increased his guilt to reject the merciful 
warnings of God. 

How differently his pious father acted when 
the book of the law was found and read to 
him ! He at once humbled himself and turned 
to the Lord, and required the nation to observe 
the law ; and the Lord forgave and blessed 
him. But Jehoiakim despised the sacred 
Scripture, and would not even hear it read 
through. 

Just as foolish and wicked is the conduct 
of those who now ridicule or hate the holy 
Scriptures. Some men have done as Jehoia- 



OF JEREMIAH. 47 

kirn did — ^burnt the Bible, to show their con- 
tempt or fear of it. Many abuse it, and re- 
fuse to read it, as he did, because it reproves 
them of sin, and threatens the wicked with 
everlasting punishment. But if all the Bibles 
in the world were destroyed, it would do the 
sinner no good. God will perform what he 
promises or threatens, and no power can pre- 
vent it. " The wicked shall be turned into 
hell." 



48 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 



CHAPTER VIII. 

For several years the enemies of Judah 
had been growing stronger and more success- 
ful. The kings of Assyria and Babylon had 
more than once obtained victories over them, 
and taken their kings and people captive. 
Nechoh, king of Egypt, had put Jehoiakim 
on the throne, and compelled him to pay tri- 
bute ; and at the very time in which he was 
despising the counsel of Jeremiah, and de- 
stroying his prophecies, because they said the 
king of Babylon should take possession of 
his kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar had besieged 
Jerusalem. He succeeded, as the prophet 
had foretold, and Jehoiakim was bound in 
chains to be carried to Babylon. But it 
seems that Nebuchadnezzar afterwards re- 
leased him, and allowed him to remain. He, 
however, took away some of the costly ves- 
sels of the temple, which he put among the 
treasures of the idol he worshipped in Chal- 
dea. He also selected as captives some of 



OF JEREMIAH. 49 

the most promising Jewish boys, to be edu- 
cated in the palace of Babylon for his own 
service. Among these was the lad who was 
afterwards the prophet Daniel, and his three 
pious companions, to whom Nebuchadnezzar 
gave the Chaldean names of Shadrach, Me- 
shach, and Abednego. This took place about 
the year of the world 3400, and 600 years 
before the birth of Christ. 

After Jehoiakim had been three years in 
subjection to Nebuchadnezzar, he attempted 
to become independent. But he was attacked 
by his enemies on all sides, and defeated. 
His reign lasted eleven years, for several of 
which he was under the power of the kings 
of Egypt and Babylon. The Bible does not 
mention the time and place of his death, but 
Josephus, a Jewish historian, says that the 
king of Babylon entered Jerusalem, and ** slew 
such as were in the flower of their age, and 
such as were of the greatest dignity, together 
with their king Jehoiakim, whom he com- 
manded to be thrown before the walls, with- 
out any burial."* Thus was accomplished 

* Josephus, Antiq. b. x. ch. 6. 
5 



50 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

the prediction of Jeremiah — ** Therefore thus 
saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son 
of Josiah king of Judah ; they shall not la- 
ment for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, 
Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, say- 
ing, Ah lord ! or. Ah his glory ! He shall be 
buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and 
cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." 

His son Jehoiachin, who had probably 
reigned eight years with his father, took the 
throne, but as the prophet had predicted, he 
did not keep it. He reigned but three months 
and ten days, when Nebuchadnezzar took 
him to Babylon, and made Zedekiah, his 
uncle, king of Judah. 

Jeremiah had prophesied of Jehoiachin, 
under the name of Coniah, or Jeconiah, that 
he should be delivered into the hands of Ne- 
buchadnezzar, and be cast out, with his mo- 
ther, into a strange land, and die there. This 
was exactly fulfilled. He and his mother, 
his servants, princes, and officers, were taken 
to Babylon. At the same time Nebuchadnez- 
zar took oflf the treasures of the palace and 
the temple, among which were the splendid 
vessels of gold which Solomon had made* 



OF JtKEmAH. 51 

He also took the most eminent and useful in- 
habitants of Jerusalem, to the number of ten 
thousand, or as some think eighteen thousand, 
leaving scarcely any but the poorest people 
behind. 

Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar made 
king of Judah, was the third son of Josiah : 
but like his brothers, he did not follow the 
example of his father, and did evil in the 
sight of the Lord. In the beginning of his 
reign, Jeremiah, who had not been taken to 
Babylon with the captives, was informed in a 
vision of what was to take place during his 
reign. He saw two baskets of figs ; those in 
one basket were very fresh and good, the 
others were not fit to be eaten. The Lord 
told Jeremiah that these different figs were 
like the Jews who had gone into captivity, 
and those who were left in the land. Those 
who had been taken away would repent and 
return to the Lord with their whole heart, and 
in the course of time they or their children 
should return to their own land and be estab- 
lished there. As to Zedekiah, and those that 
remained in Judah, and were still perverse, 
they should be driven away, and be reproach- 



.52 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

ed, and cursed wherever they went, and finally 
be destroyed by famine, pestilence, or the 
sword. 

And it afterwards proved that the best of 
the nation — the few who honoured God when 
they were taken captive, and such as re- 
pented in Babylon of their sins, were those 
who were taken by Nebuchadnezzar. Among 
them was the prophet Daniel and the prophet 
Ezekiel, who were inspired by the Holy 
Spirit to declare the will of God, and predict 
the most important events of future times. 

Jeremiah did not forget his countrymen 
who were carried to Babylon. At one time 
when Zedekiah sent messengers to Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the prophet wrote a letter by 
them to the captives, in which he communi- 
cated what the Lord wished them to do. In- 
stead of rebelling against the king of Babylon, 
or making disturbances among his people, he 
exhorted them to settle as if they did not ex- 
pect to leave the country, and to seek and pray 
for the peace of Babylon; for on this their 
own safety depended. In seventy years, he 
said, they should return ; that is, as a nation ; 
for few would be living at that time who had 



OF /ER£MIAH. 53 

been carried from Judah. They were assured 
from the Lord, that after all they had done to 
provoke him, his thoughts towards them were 
of peace and not of evil, and that when they 
would call upon him and pray to him, he 
would hear them. ** Ye shall seek me and 
find me, when ye shall search for me with 
all your heart."* Then would he restore 
them to their land in safety. 

Among those that went to Babylon were 
some false prophets, who tried to mislead the 
people. When Jeremiah's letter was re- 
ceived, one of them, named Shemaiah, wrote 
back to the priests in Jerusalem, saying that 
Jeremiah was an impostor, and that they 
ought to put him in prison, and stop his pro- 
phecies. But the Lord sent word to the cap- 
tives that Shemaiah had deceived them, and 
that it would be rebellion against God to fol- 
low his advice. For his crime in this respect, 
the Lord declared he would punish him, and 
none of his family should inhabit the land 
when the Jews were restored. 

In predicting the return of the Jews from 

* Jer. xxix. 13. 
6* 



64 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

captivity, the prophet was led to speak of 
still more distant and glorious times. Some 
of these promises, it is supposed, are not yet 
fulfilled, and will not be until the Jews 
shall turn to the Saviour, and be restored to 
their own land, from all parts of the earth 
where they are now scattered. Others relate 
to the coming of Christ and the conversion 
of multitudes of the Jews by the gospel, 
which took place in the time of our Lord Je- 
sus and his apostles. One of these prophe- 
cies is as follows : 

" Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
that I will make a new covenant with the 
house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : 
not according to the covenant that I made 
with their fathers in the day that I took them 
by the hand to bring them out of the land of 
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, al- 
though I was a husband unto them, saith the 
Lord : but this shall be the covenant that I 
will make with the house of Israel ; after 
those days, saith the Lord, 1 will put my law 
in their inward parts, and write it in their 
hearts ; and will be their God, and they 
shall be my people. And they shall teach no 



OF JEREMIAH. 65 

more every man his neighbour, and every 
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for 
they shall all know me, from the least of them 
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord : for 
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will re- 
member their sin no more."* 

This passage is quoted by the apostle Paul 
in his letter to the Jews, as the language of 
the Holy Ghost, and he declared it to be ful- 
filled by the gospel, which is the new cove- 
nant.t 

At another time Jeremiah referred directly 
to Christ in these words — *' Behold, the days 
come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto 
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall 
reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment 
and justice in the earth. In his days Judah 
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : 
and this is his name whereby he shall be 
called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUS- 
NESS."t 

Jesus Christ is this Branch of David ; being 
descended from him according to the flesh. 
He is the '* King of kings and Lord of lords," 

* Jer. xxxi. 31—34. 

f Heb. X. 15—17 ; viii. 8 — 13. ^ Jer. xxxiii. 5, 6. 



66 LIFK AND PROPHECIES 

and who, of God, is made unto his people 
** wisdom and righteousness, and sanetification 
and redemption."* 

What glorious hopes were these for the 
faithful Jews ! What a great deliverance was 
before them ! How they must have been 
comforted in their captivity by the prospect 
that at a future day their nation should receive 
a Messiah, and that all, from the least to the 
greatest, should know the Lord I 

This Redeemer and King has come. It is 
no longer an obscure subject of prophecy and 
of expectation, but is recorded in history. 
Those who neglect this Saviour now, and 
will not submit to him, are as much more 
guilty than the unbelieving Jews, as our 
knowledge and opportunities are greater than 
theirs were. He is a Saviour for the Gentiles 
as well as the Jews, and the Lord says to us 
as sincerely as he did in the time of Jere- 
miah — '* Ye shall seek me and find me, when 
ye shall search for me with all your heart. '*^ 

* Rom. i. 3. 1 Tim. vi. 15. 1 Cor. i. 30. 



OF JEREMIAH. 57 



CHAPTER IX. 

Besides the prophecies respecting the Jews, 
Jeremiah uttered various other predictions of 
the fate of the neighbouring nations, and even 
of Babylon itself. Of that great city and the 
Chaldean empire, of which it was the capital, 
he foretold that the time of punishment should 
come. They should be destroyed, while the 
captive Jews should return weeping in sorrow 
for their sins, seeking the Lord their God, 
and asking "the way to Zion with their faces 
thitherward, saying, * Come, and let us join 
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, 
that shall not be forgotten.' " 

These declarations were fulfilled by the 
victories of the Medes and Persians, and 
others, who subdued the kingdom and de- 
stroyed the proud city, which has been for 
ages a heap of ruins. It seemed very impro- 
bable, in that day, when Babylon was in its 
glory, full of wealth and power, and extending 
her dominions on every side, that her walls 



58 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

should be thrown down, and the city become 
uninhabited and desolate. Yet such were the 
words of Jeremiah at that time, and they have 
been strictly fulfilled, and Babylon has ** be- 
come heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an 
astonishment, and a hissing, without an inha- 
bitant." 

Jeremiah wrote this prophecy, and sent it 
to Nebuchadnezzar by the hands of an officer 
who accompanied king Zedekiah on a visit to 
Babylon. He was directed to read it there, 
and when he had finished, to tie it to a stone 
and throw it in the river Euphrates, saying, 
"Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise 
from the evil that I will bring upon her." 

Until this destruction came upon the city, 
the prophet admonished Zedekiah and the 
other kings to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, as 
it would be in vain to resist the purpose of 
God, who had given their dominions into his 
hands. They were assured that he should 
even carry the vessels of the temple to Baby- 
lon, and that they should not be restored to 
their place till the time of the captivity was 
accomplished. 

A false prophet, named Hananiah, contra- 



OF JEREMIAH. 59 

dieted this assertion, and said that in two 
years Jeconiah, (Jehoiachin,) and the Jews 
who had been already taken to Babylon, 
should return home. For this denial of his 
word, the Lord said to Hananiah, ** Behold I 
will cast thee from off the face of the earth : this 
year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught 
rebellion against the Lord." ** So Hananiah 
the prophet died the same year in the seventh 
month." 

Zedekiah's reign had now continued for 
nine years. He persevered in his evil course, 
and despised the counsel of Jeremiah to hum- 
ble himself before the Lord. In the ninth 
year of his reign he rebelled against Nebu- 
chadnezzar. That monarch then marched 
against Jerusalem and besieged it. 

When Zedekiah found that the words of 
Jeremiah were indeed about to be fulfilled, 
he became alarmed, and sent to ask the pro- 
phet to pray for the city. But the Lord told 
Jeremiah to reply, that the city should cer- 
tainly be taken, and Zedekiah himself should 
not escape; that he should not die in the 
siege, or battle, but be carried to Babylon. 

When the army of Babylon first besieged 



60 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

Jerusalem, Zedekiah had Jeremiah put into 
prison for saying that Nebuchadnezzar should 
take the city, and that he should be carried to 
J3abylon. Whilst in this confinement the 
Lord again showed him that the Jews should 
be restored to their country, and directed him 
to buy a field in his native Anathoth, as a 
sign that '* houses, and fields, and vineyards 
should be possessed again in the land." 

Jeremiah thought this was wonderful ; for 
the Chaldeans were besieging the city, and 
there was every prospect that the whole 
country would be desolate, as he himself had 
foreshown. It was therefore a singular time 
to purchase property. But the prophet knew 
where to go in all times of doubt and perplex- 
ity. Instead therefore of wasting his time in 
his own thoughts about the designs of Provi- 
dence, he prayed. His prayer began in this 
beautiful manner :— " Ah Lord God ! behold, 
thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy 
great power and stretched-out arm, and there 
is nothing too hard for thee : thou showest 
loving-kindness unto thousands, and recom- 
pensest the iniquity of the fathers into the 
bosom of their children after them : the Great, 



I 



OF JJEREMIAH. 61 

the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his 
name ; great in counsel, and mighty in work : 
for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of 
the sons of men : to give every one according 
to his ways, and according to the fruit of his 
doings." Jer. xxxii. 17 — 19. 

The Chaldeans were taking the country, 
yet he was commanded to buy a field in it ! 
But the Lord answered him — "Behold I am 
the Lord, the God of all flesh : is there any 
thing too hard for me ?" He then revealed 
to the prophet, that at a future time God 
would gather the Jews out of all the countries 
where they should be scattered, and bring 
them again to their own land. "And they 
shall be my people, and I will be their God ; 
and I will give them one heart, and one way, 
that they may fear me for ever, for the good 
of them, and of their children after them : 
and I will make an everlasting covenant with 
them, that I will not turn away from them, 
to do them good ; but I will put my fear in 
their hearts, that they shall not depart from 
me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do 
them good, and I will plant them in this land 

6 



63 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

assuredly with my whole heart and with my 
whole soul." Jer. xxxii. 38 — 40. 

These great promises rnust refer to some- 
thing more important than the return of the 
Jews after the seventy years' captivity. 
They look forward to the glorious times of 
the New Testament, and the spiritual pros- 
perity of the nation, when their Messiah 
would come and open the way of pardon and 
of everlasting peace with God. The atone- 
ment of Christ would introduce more bless- 
ings than the establishment of their kingdom : 
it would open to them the means of freedom 
from the bondage of sin, which is infinitely 
more dreadful than the slavery of Babylon. 
It was through this atonement that God could 
promise them — ** I will cleanse them from all 
their iniquity whereby they have sinned 
against me ; and I will pardon all their ini- 
quities whereby they have sinned, and 
whereby they have transgressed against me." 
That the blessed times of the gospel were in 
tended is clear, from the language of the pro- 
phecy. " In those days, and at that time, 
will I cause the Branch of righteousness to 
grow up unto David ; and he shall execute 



OF JEREMIAH. 63 

judgment and righteousness in the land. In 
those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusa- 
lem shall dwell safely : and this is the name 
wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our 
righteousness."* 

* Jer. xxxiii. 15, 16. 




64 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 



CHAPTER X. 

The Chaldean army, hearing that the king 
of Egypt was marching to the relief of Zede- 
kiah, abandoned the siege of Jerusalem for the 
present. Jeremiah appears then to have been 
released from prison, though he told Zedekiah 
that they would certainly return to the siege. 
He said also that the only way of escape was 
to surrender themselves into their hands, for 
that those who remained in Jerusalem should 
die of famine and pestilence, or be killed by the 
sword, whilst the city itself should be burned ; 
but that those who should join themselves to 
the Chaldeans should be spared. 

When the princes heard what Jeremiah 
had said, they begged the king to have him 
put to death. They said his predictions 
would discourage their men from fighting, and 
that the prophet was seeking the injury and 
not the welfare of the people. Zedekiah told 
them that the prophet was in their power, 



OF JEREMIAH. 65 

and they must do with him as they thought 
proper. 

Upon this they took JereiiMah to the prison. 
A private house was used for the purpose at 
this time, in one of the courts or yards of 
which was a deep dungeon, probably an old 
well, dug into the ground. They put ropes 
around him, and lowered him into this pit. 
The bottom was not paved or floored, but 
was deep mud, into which the prisoner sank. 
There he was left to suffer with hunger and 
cold. 

Yet the Lord did not forsake him, and Je- 
remiah did not complain of his calamities. 
He again looked to Heaven in prayer, and 
was answered : for it must be to this time he 
refers when he says in one of his writings — 
'* Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, 
without cause. They have cut off my life in 
the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 
Waters flowed over mine Jiead ; then I said, 
I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O 
Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast 
heard my voice : hide not thine ear at my 
breathing, at my cry. Thou dre west near in 

6* 



66 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

the day that I called upon thee : thou saidst, 
Fear not." Lam. iii. 52 — 57. 

But though there were none of his own 
countrymen to pity and relieve the pro- 
phet in his dreadful condition, there was a 
foreigner, from Africa, who had compassion 
on him. This was Ebed-melech, an Ethi- 
opian, who lived in the palace. As soon as 
he heard what the princes had done with Je- 
remiah, he informed the king, telling him that 
he was in danger of dying of hunger. Zede- 
kiah commanded Ebed-melech to take thirty 
men with him, and get Jeremiah out of the 
dungeon. The kind man did so, and was so 
considerate, that to prevent the rope from 
cutting him as they drew him up, he first let 
down some rags to put under his arms in the 
places where the rope came, and so he was 
drawn up safely, and without injury. 

The Lord rewarded Ebed-melech for his 
humanity, and assured him, by the prophet, 
that when the calamities of Jerusalem should 
take place, he should be preserved, " for I 
will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not 
fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a 



OF JEREMIAH. 67 

prey unto thee ; because thou hast put thy 
trust in me, saith the Lord." 

After Jeremiah had been taken out of the 
dungeon, the king sent for him, and wished 
to learn what was to be the end of the siege, 
and what he should do. He promised if he 
would tell him, he would not put him to death, 
nor give him into the hands of the people 
again. The faithful prophet assured him that 
there was but one way of safety, and that was 
to surrender himself to Nebuchadnezzar ; and 
if he did not, he would be taken prisoner, and 
the city be burnt* 

The king said he was afraid that the Jews 
who had already gone over to the Chaldeans 
would betray him. But Jeremiah replied that 
they should not, and added this advice, which 
is applicable to all persons in whatever circum- 
stances they may be — " Obey, I beseech thee, 
the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto 
thee : so it shaJl be well unto thee, and thy 
soul shall live." 

Zedekiah begged the prophet not to let any 
one know what had passed between them, 
promising that he would on that condition 
spare his life. If the rulers should ask him 



68 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

what the king and he had been talking Bbout, 
he was not to tell them this part of the con- 
versation, but should say that he had been 
asking the king not to have him sent back to 
the dungeon. This was, no doubt, part of 
what had been said, for we cannot believe 
that Jeremiah would have said this to the 
rulers (as he did) if it had not been true. 

It appears from this, that Zedekiah was 
willing to consider what the prophet had said 
as true. His predictions so far had been ac- 
complished, and it must now have seemed to 
the king very probable that all the rest would 
come to pass. He was therefore willing to 
ask advice of the despised prophet when he 
found himself in danger, and could not help 
himself. But like many others, instead of 
obeying God and believing his word, he hesi- 
tated, and resisted the divine warning. Per- 
haps he intended to follow Jeremiah's counsel 
at the last, when he could hold out no longer ; 
just as sinners put off repentance till they ex- 
pect to die ; but for the present he neglected 
it, and the consequence was that his kingdom 
and his liberty were soon taken from him for 
ever* 



OF J£R£MIAH. 69 



CHAPTER XL 

Jerusalem had now been besieged for 
eighteen months. The provisions of the city- 
had failed, and a famine began. They could 
remain no longer, and Zedekiah, with the 
people, fled out of one of the gates by night. 
The Babylonians pursued them, and overtook 
the king in the plains of Jericho. They took 
him prisoner, and carried him to Nebuchad- 
nezzar, who was then at Riblah, a city in 
Syria. He was tried for his rebellion, and 
condemned to die. 

To increase his punishment, his sons were 
put to death in his presence. His eyes were 
then cruelly put out, and in that dreadful con- 
dition he was bound with chains and taken to 
Babylon, where he was kept in prison until his 
death. 

Thus the prophecy of Ezekiel was fulfilled, 
that though he should die in Babylon, he 
should not see it.* His princes, the enemies 

* Ezek. xii. 13. 



70 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

and persecutors of Jeremiah, were all put to 
death in Riblah. 

Nebuzaradan, the chief officer of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, entered Jerusalem, and after re- 
moving the vessels, and ornaments of gold, 
silver, and brass from the temple, set fire to 
it, €ind the palace and all the houses of the 
city were burnt up. The walls of the city 
were broken down, and every thing was in 
ruins. The people who remained in the city 
were made prisoners, and sent to Babylon, 
excepting a few who were left to take care of 
the vineyards and fields, and over whom he 
placed Gedaliah as ruler. Jerusalem was 
taken in the year of the world 34 1 6, being 584 
years before the birth of Christ, and in the 
eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. 

Whilst these events were going on, the 
Lord did not forget Jeremiah. Nebuchad- 
nezzar gave orders to Nebuzaradan that the 
prophet should not be injured, but that he 
should do with him as Jeremiah himself 
should direct. He had been taken in chains 
with the other captives as far as Ramah. 
There Nebuzaradan released him, telling 
him that if he chose to go with him to Baby» 



OF JEREMIAH. 71 

Ion, he should be well treated ; but if he did 
not, he was at liberty to go whithersoever he 
saw proper. 

Jeremiah preferred staying in his own de- 
solate land, to all the rewards offered him in 
Babylon. Nebuzaradan, therefore, made him 
a present of money and provisions, and Jere- 
miah came to Gedaliah, who was over the 
few who remained, and who had taken up 
his abode at Mizpah. 

A number of Jews, escaping from Nebu- 
chadnezzar, or coming out of places where 
they had been concealed, now joined them- 
selves to Gedaliah. The king of the Am- 
monites, the descendants of Lot, who lived to 
the south-east of Judea, persuaded a Jew 
named Ishmael to kill Gedaliah. He came 
with ten others, under the pretence of a 
friendly visit, and slew him in Mizpah, toge- 
ther with the Jews and Chaldeans who were 
with him. He took the rest of the people in 
Mizpah captives, and left Judea to go to the 
Ammonites. But Johanan, another Jew, 
with his company, met him on the way, re- 
covered the captives, and brought them back. 

Johanan and all the people came to Jere- 



72 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 



1 



miah, and begged him to pray to the Lord for 
them, that they might know what their duty 
was in their present situation. The prophet 
promised to do as they requested, and to de- 
clare to them exactly what the Lord should 
say. 

Upon this they solemnly called the Lord 
to witness that they would do whatever should 
be required. "Whether it be good or whe- 
ther it be evil^ we will obey the voice of the 
Lord our God, to whom we send thee ; that 
it may be well with us when we obey the 
voice of the Lord our God." 

Ten days after this the Lord answered Je- 
remiah's prayer, and sent this message to the 
people. If they would remain in the land, 
he would defend them from the king of Baby- 
lon, and show them mercy. But if they 
should determine to go into Egypt to dwell, 
sword and famine should pursue them, and 
they should die there. 

But notwithstanding all that they had seen 
and suffered, the remnant of the Jews would 
not yet trust to the Lord. They were not 
sincere in asking Jeremiah's prayers, but in- 
tended at the time to remove to Egypt, where 



OF JEREMIAH. 73 

they thought they would be safe from the 
Chaldeans ; choosing to trust themselves for 
protection to the king of Egypt, rather than 
to the great God. 

As soon, therefore, as Jeremiah had deli- 
vered the word of the Lord, which they had 
sworn to obey, whatever it might be, they 
replied, '< Thou speakest falsely ; the Lord 
our God hath not sent thee to say. Go not into 
Egypt to sojourn there. But Baruch, the 
son of Neriah, setteth thee on against us, for 
to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, 
that they might put us to death, and carry us 
away captive into Babylon." 

So they obeyed not the word of the Lord, 
but Johanan and the chief men led all the 
people into Egypt, and brought them to the 
city of Tahpanhes, Migdol, and other places. 
Jeremiah was taken with the rest, and he 
then prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar should 
have his throne in that very place where they 
had fled to escape him. " And when he 
cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and 
deliver such as are for death to death; and 
such as are for captivity to captivity; and 
such as are for the sword, to the sword." 

7 



74 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

It was in Egypt that the Jews, nine hun- 
dred years before, had first been led into 
idolatry. It was to deliver them from this 
danger, and to keep them a holy people, that 
God had led them out of their bondage there, 
and brought them into Judea. But now the 
sinful remnant of the nation returned of their 
own accord, and against the express command 
of God, and soon began to burn incense and 
to sacrifice to the idols of the land. 

Jeremiah reminded the people of these 
things, and assured them from the Lord that 
they should not escape punishment, but should 
be destroyed, until none remained excepting 
such as would fly to Judea, and become " an 
execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, 
and a reproach." 

They were now hardened against fear, and 
in the most blasphemous manner renounced 
their God. They told Jeremiah they would 
not listen to the word of the Lord, but were 
determined to burn incense to the moon, and 
make offerings to that planet, as the queen of 
heaven. They had the wickedness to say, 
that when they did this before in their own 
land, they had plenty to eat, and were in pros- 



OF JEREmAH, 75 

perity ; and since they had forsaken it by the 
command of Josiah, they had nothing but 
want and trouble. 

Jeremiah replied that the true cause of all 
their sufferings was, that they had "sinned 
against the Lord, and had not obeyed the 
voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor 
in his statutes, nor in his testimonies." And 
as they had dared to forsake the Lord for idols, 
he pronounced the curse of God upon them ; 
they should be left to their idolatry; they 
should no more hear of Jehovah ; the king of 
Babylon should conquer the king of Egypt ; 
they should perish by sword and famine, and 
then should be known " whose words shall 
stand, mine or theirs." 

Thus was this great and favoured nation 
brought to ruin, and scattered over the earth 
in captivity. Jeremiah had now no more to 
do. The Jews must remain for seventy years 
in Babylon ; the remnant who had taken re- 
fuge in Egypt would soon disappear ; it was 
time for him to die. He probably did little 
more, during the rest of his life, than weep 
over the calamities of his country. It is likely 
that he now wrote most of the book which is 



76 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

called his Lamentations^ and which is filled 
with the most affecting expressions of grief. 
When he thought of the great Jerusalem ; the 
pride of the land, beloved by every Jew as 
the place of the temple, and the abode of their 
kings, now in ruins and uninhabited, and in 
the power of a foreign king, he exclaimed — 
" How doth the city sit solitary, that was full 
of people ! how is she become as a widow ! 
she that was great among the nations, and 
princess among the provinces, how is she 
become tributary ! She weepeth sore in the 
night, and her tears are on her cheeks : among 
all her lovers she hath none to comfort her : 
all her friends have dealt treacherously with 
her, they are become her enemies. The 
ways of Zion do mourn, because none come 
to the solemn feasts : all her gates are deso- 
late : her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, 
and she is in bitterness. And from the daugh- 
ter of Zion all her beauty is departed : her 
princes are become like harts that find no 
pasture, and they are gone without strength 
before the pursuer. All that pass by clap 
their hands at thee ; they hiss and wag their 
head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying. Is 



OF JEREMIAH. 77 

this the city that men call the perfection of 
beauty, the joy of the whole earth ?"* 

He represents the city as calling out to the 
travellers who passed near it — " Is it nothing 
to you, all ye that pass by ? behold, and see 
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, 
which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord 
hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce 
anger, "t 

But all this desolation and sadness are 
the wages of sin. We have seen how long 
and patiently the Lord endured with his peo- 
ple ; how he warned, and exhorted, and 
pleaded with them to repent : how he let them 
know by his prophets the very sufferings that 
must come upon them if they did not forsake 
their iniquities and turn to him, as to a merci- 
ful Father, willing to forgive. This the suf- 
fering Jews knew, and therefore Jeremiah 
represents the nation in its distress as saying, 
** The Lord is righteous ; for I have rebelled 
against his commandment." 

Jeremiah lamented his own afflictions too. 
He was constantly persecuted by his enemies ; 

* Lara. i. 1, 2. 4. 6 ; ii. 15. f Lara. L 12. 

7* 



78 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

reviled, rejected, beaten, and imprisoned. 
Yet he believed in the Lord, and persevered 
for forty years in declaring his word. With 
all his sorrows he could say — *« The Lord is 
my portion, saith my soul ; therefore will I 
hope in him. The Lord is good unto them 
that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 
It is good that a man should both hope and 
quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.'* 
He bore witness to the Lord that " he doth 
not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children 
of men." And he said to those who suffered 
for their sins—" Let us search and try our 
ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us 
lift up our heart with our hands unto God in 
the heavens."* 

These are the lessons we should learn from 
the life and prophecies of Jeremiah ; and if 
they are neglected, the ruin will be far more 
dreadful to us than all that the unhappy Jews 
suffered from captivity, pestilence, or famine. 
The Lord Jesus 'has done more than all the 
prophets did. He has come from heaven 
with a message of mercy to the penitent, and 

* Lam. iii. 34—26. 40, 41. 



OF JEREMIAH. 79 

a sentence of destruction to the perverse. 
** He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned." *' Except ye repent ye shall all 
likewise perish." 

The time and place of Jeremiah's death are 
not known. Some think he was stoned by 
the Jews in Egypt; others that he died in 
Judea; others in Babylon. But this is a 
matter of no consequence. He served God 
on the earth, and such are sure of a glorious 
reward in the kingdom of heaven. 

Like the prophets, and other faithful men 
spoken of in the eleventh chapter of the epistle 
to the Hebrews, Jeremiah "wrought right- 
eousness, obtained promises, escaped the edge 
of the sword, out of weakness was made 
strong ;" he had *' trial of cruel mockings and 
scourgings, yea moreover of bonds and im- 
prisonment ; being destitute, afflicted, tor- 
mented." But like them he bore all his suf- 
ferings in patience and faith. He believed 
God, and looked forward to the fulfilment of 
all his promises respecting the next life as 
well as this. He was not saved by his right- 
eousness^ but by the mercy of God through 



80 LIFE AND PROPHECIES 

faith. He continued to proclaim the mes- 
sages of the Lord in the midst of all the op- 
position that he met, because he trusted in 
his word. And so are Christians exhorted, 
in imitation of such an example, ** Let us run 
with patience the race that is set before us, 
LOOKING UNTO Jesus, the author and finisher 
of our faith, who, for the joy that was set be- 
fore him, endured the cross, despising the 
shame, and is set down at the right hand of 
the throne of God." 

His voice still speaks to us from the Bible, 
and every sinner should listen to it as seri- 
ously as if he were one of the rebellious Jews 
to whom he spoke when on earth. For the 
same God is our God ; his laws are the same, 
and he will punish the guilty who will not 
turn and repent. 

Jeremiah is mentioned twice in the New 
Testament, in the gospel of Matthew. In 
the first place he is called ^'Jeremy the pro- 
phet," where a passage from his prophecy is 
quoted in the account of the destruction of 
the children by the order of Herod.* 

* Matt. ii. 17, 18. Jer. xxxi. 15. 



OF JEREMIAH. 81 

The next time he is mentioned he is called 
Jeremias, when the Lord Jesus asked his 
disciples, " Who do men say that I, the Son 
of man, am ?" and they said, " Some say 
that thou art John the Baptist ; some Elias ; 
and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets,"* 

** Jeremy the prophet" is also quoted in 
the account of the buying of the potter's 
field with the money of Judas. But as the 
passage appears in the book of Zechariah, it 
is most probable the latter was the prophet 
intended.! 

* Wt xvi. 13, 14. 

t Matt. xvii. 9. Zech. xi. 12, 13. The longest 
quotation from Jeremiah in the New Testament is in 
Heb. viii. 8 — 13, from Jer. xxxi. 31 — 34. 



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